Dallas author David W. Menefee is a ghost writer, screenwriter, book editor and film historian whose work recently earned not one – but two – spots on the Top 10 Best Silent Film Books of 2011, compiled by San Francisco Silent Movie Examiner Thomas Gladysz.
Making the list are Menefee’s The Rise and Fall of Lou-Tellegen (Menefee Publishing/Createspace) and Wally: The True Wallace Reid Story (BearManor Media). Wally was also nominated for a 2011 Pulitzer Prize.
“Chances are, even the most devoted film buff has never seen a Lou-Tellegen film or even heard of the once world-famous movie star,” Gladysz writes. “But consider this: the Dutch-born Lou-Tellegen (1881-1934) got his start as a trapeze artist and nude model for Rodin before gaining a foothold on the stage under the tutelage of the great Eleanora Duse.”
“Then, rival Sarah Bernhardt – the most famous actress at the beginning of the 20th century, plucked him from obscurity with a four-year contract,” Gladysz continues. “Hollywood secured his talents with roles in a string of successful silent films. And Geraldine Farrar, considered the greatest opera singer of her time, married him after brief romance. But one dark day, Lou-Tellegen’s storybook life came to a sudden, stunning end.”
Menefee’s The Rise and Fall of Lou-Tellegen documents Lou-Tellegen’s triumphs and sad end, writes Gladysz.
Regarding Menefee’s Wally: The True Wallace Reid Story, Gladysz writes that Reid (1891-1923) was “referred to as ‘the screen’s most perfect lover’ – an ‘immensely popular actor during the early silent era.'”
Gladysz writes: “His stardom rivaled that of his contemporaries, such as Douglas Fairbanks. Today, however, Reid is largely forgotten and many of his films are lost. Those who do know of Reid likely know tragic fate. While shooting a film in 1919, Reid suffered an injury and was treated with morphine. The treatment led to an addiction, and the studios, wishing not to lose one of their leading stars, did little to help while keeping the popular actor working. Reid, a matinee idol, died in a sanitarium just a few years later. Wally includes a foreword by Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne.”
Menefee’s writing career began as a writer and marketing representative for the Dallas Times Herald and the Dallas Morning News. He struck out on his own as a freelance writer, achieving success with Sarah Bernhardt: In the Theater, Film and Sound Recordings; The First Female Stars: Women of the Silent Era; and The First Male Stars: Men of the Silent Era.
Menefee’s Richard Barthelmess: A Life in Pictures was previously named one of the Top 10 Books of the Year. In 2010, George O’Brien: A Man’s Man in Hollywood and “Otay!” The Billy “Buckwheat” Thomas Story were popular hits.
Menefee’s other popular literary works include The Remarkable Mr. Messing, Brothers of the Storm, Charlie O’Doone’s Second Chance and Other Stories, the Margot Cranston mystery series, and Falling Stars: 10 Who Tried to be a Movie Star.
Information provided by David W. Menefee.
To read Thomas Gladysz’s original article in its entirety, click here.
About Thomas Gladysz Gladysz is an arts journalist and early film buff, and the director of the Louise Brooks Society, an internet-based archive and international fan club devoted to the legendary film star and femme fatale. Gladysz has contributed to books, organized exhibits, appeared on television and radio, and introduced the actress’s films around the world. Last year, he edited and wrote the introduction to the “Louise Brooks Edition” of Margarete Bohme’s The Diary of a Lost Girl.
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